Associate Professor Alison Pearce
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Associate Professor Alison Pearce

Stream Lead, Health Economics
Senior Lecturer, Health economics
Phone
02 8627 9114
Associate Professor Alison Pearce

Alison is a health economist interested in the various costs of cancer. Her research aims to use health services research and health economics to improve cancer care by providing relevant, reliable information for decision making.

Leading the Health Economics Stream at the Daffodil Centre and based at the University of Sydney School of Public Health, Alison teaches introductory health economics and conducts research in the areas of oncology patient preferences and productivity loss. This research extends the work she did on the economics of cancer as a Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Fellow at theCentre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation (CHERE) at UTS, and as a postdoc at the National Cancer Registryin Ireland. Alison completed herPhDon the costs of chemotherapy side effects at CHERE in 2013, before which she worked in cancer clinical trials and health services research.

Alison's original training was in occupational therapy, and she remains interested in rehabilitation research. She also has keen interests in early career researcher development, communicating research to the public, and the use of social media in academia. When not being an academic she enjoys putting economic theories into practice as co-founder of a small business - Bean Bar You.

  • The economics of cancer
  • Discrete choice experiments and patient preferences
  • Measuring and valuing lost productivity, including unpaid productivity
  • Anxiety, depression, and fear of cancer recurrence among people with cancer
  • Health economics and cost-effectiveness analysis in cancer, occupational therapy and allied health
Alison is course coordinator for Introduction to Health Economics and Health Policy (HPOL5000) within the Master of Public Health program in the Sydney School of Public Health. She also teaches in the Public Health capstone units (PUBH5034 and 5134) and is a guest lecturer in Health Economic Evaluation (PUBH5312). Alison is regularly comissioned to develop and provide training in health economics topics to health professionals and policy makers outside the university. Dr Pearce currently supervises two PhD student and several Master students.
I am involved in a number of applied and theoretical health economics projects, including:
  • Preferences for quality of life and survival among people with cancer
  • Assessing response validity in discrete choice experiments
  • Assessing people's preferences for genomic-risk based cancer screening
  • Assessing the cost-effectiveness of Artificial Intelligence in breast cancer screening
  • Investigating women's preferences for the role of artificial intelligence in breast cancer screening
  • Measuring cost-effectiveness of supporting clinicians to provide smoking cessation support to pregant women
  • Measuring and valuing lost productivity, particularly unpaid productivity
  • Anxiety, depression, and fear of cancer recurrence among people with cancer
  • Health economics and cost-effectiveness analysis in occupational therapy, including lymphoedema intervention, pressure care management and constraint-induced movement therapy
  • Australia New Zealand Health Services Research Association, Vice-President, Public Officer, and 2022 Conference Convenor, 2017 – current
  • Pharmaco-economics Open, Editorial Board member, 2016 - current
  • Society for Medical Decision Making, member, 2018 - current
  • Economic Society of Australia, member, 2018 – current
  • Fellow of the International Academy for Health Preferences Research, member, 2016 – current
  • Health Economics Study Group (UK), member, 2014 – current
  • Australian Health Economics Society, member, 2012 – current, and mentoring sub-committee member (2020 - current)
  • International Health Economics Association, member, 2011 – current
  • International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, member, 2009 – current
  • 2021 - Sydney Cancer Conference 3rd Prize, Best Mini-oral and poster presentation for "Patient preferences for prostate cancer treatment"
  • 2018 - HSRAANZ Best Health Services and Policy Research paper for "Productivity losses due to premature mortality from cancer in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS): A population-based comparison"
  • 2016 - HESG Best Poster Presentation Award "Cognitive interviewing highlights unanticipated decision making in a discrete choice experiment"
  • 2015 - MASCC Young Investigator of the Year Award "Comparing the costs of three prostate cancer follow-up strategies: A cost minimiation analysis"
  • 2015 - ISPOR Best New Investigator Podium Presentation Award "The burden of cancer in emerging economies: productivity loss as an alternative perspective"
Cancer, Lifespan

Publications

Journals

  • Jolliffe, L., Christie, L., Fearn, N., Nohrenberg, M., Liu, R., Williams, J., Parsons, M., Pearce, A. (2024). A systematic review of discrete choice experiments in stroke rehabilitation. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation. [More Information]
  • Newman, B., Tieu, T., Chamberlain, S., Harrison, R., Pearce, A., Bowden, J., Jessup, R., Christie, L., Livingstone, A., Sarkies, M., Killedar, A., et al (2024). Engaging With Health Consumers in Scientific Conferences—As Partners not Bystanders. Health Expectations, 27(4), e14147. [More Information]
  • Salisbury, A., Pearce, A., Howard, K., Norris, S. (2024). Impact of Structural Differences on the Modeled Cost-Effectiveness of Noninvasive Prenatal Testing. Medical Decision Making. [More Information]

2024

  • Jolliffe, L., Christie, L., Fearn, N., Nohrenberg, M., Liu, R., Williams, J., Parsons, M., Pearce, A. (2024). A systematic review of discrete choice experiments in stroke rehabilitation. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation. [More Information]
  • Newman, B., Tieu, T., Chamberlain, S., Harrison, R., Pearce, A., Bowden, J., Jessup, R., Christie, L., Livingstone, A., Sarkies, M., Killedar, A., et al (2024). Engaging With Health Consumers in Scientific Conferences—As Partners not Bystanders. Health Expectations, 27(4), e14147. [More Information]
  • Salisbury, A., Pearce, A., Howard, K., Norris, S. (2024). Impact of Structural Differences on the Modeled Cost-Effectiveness of Noninvasive Prenatal Testing. Medical Decision Making. [More Information]

2023

  • De Camargo Cancela, M., Bezerra de Souza, D., Leite Martins, L., Borges, L., Schilithz, A., Hanly, P., Sharp, L., Pearce, A., Soejomataram, I. (2023). Can the sustainable development goals for cancer be met in Brazil? A population-based study. Frontiers in Oncology, 12. [More Information]
  • Hanly, P., Ortega Ortega, M., Pearce, A., De Camargo Cancela, M., Soerjomataram, I., Sharp, L. (2023). Estimating Global Friction Periods for Economic Evaluation: A Case Study of Selected OECD Member Countries. PharmacoEconomics. [More Information]
  • Venning, B., Bergin, R., Pearce, A., Lee, A., Emery, J. (2023). Factors affecting patient decisions to undergo testing for cancer symptoms: an exploratory qualitative study in Australian general practice. BJGP Open, 7(1). [More Information]

2022

  • Marinovich, M., Wylie, E., Lotter, W., Pearce, A., Carter, S., Lund, H., Waddell, A., Kim, J., Pereira, G., Lee, C., Brennan, M., Houssami, N., et al (2022). Artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance breast cancer screening: protocol for population-based cohort study of cancer detection. BMJ Open, 12(1), e054005-1-e054005-8. [More Information]
  • Hassett, L., Jennings, M., Brady, B., De Barros Pinheiro, M., Haynes, A., Sidhu, B., Christie, L., Dennis, S., Pearce, A., Howard, K., Sherrington, C., et al (2022). Brief physical activity counselling by physiotherapists (BEHAVIOUR): protocol for an effectiveness-implementation hybrid type II cluster randomised controlled trial. Implementation Science Communications, 3(1), 39-1-39-18. [More Information]
  • Christie, L., Fearn, N., McCluskey, M., Lovarini, M., Rendell, R., Pearce, A. (2022). Cost-Effectiveness of Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy Implementation in Neurorehabilitation: The ACTIveARM Project. PharmacoEconomics - Open, 6(3), 437-450. [More Information]

2021

  • Williams, J., Pearce, A., Smith, A. (2021). A systematic review of fear of cancer recurrence related healthcare use and intervention cost-effectiveness. Psycho-Oncology, 30(8), 1185-1195. [More Information]
  • Yu, A., Street, D., Viney, R., Goodall, S., Pearce, A., Haywood, P., Haas, M., Battaglini, E., Goldstein, D., Timmins, H., Park, S. (2021). Clinical assessment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: a discrete choice experiment of patient preferences. Supportive Care in Cancer, 29(11), 6379-6387. [More Information]
  • Manipis, K., Goodall, S., Hanly, P., Viney, R., Pearce, A. (2021). Employer survey to estimate the productivity friction period. The European Journal of Health Economics, 22(2), 255-266. [More Information]

2020

  • Hanly, P., Ortega Ortega, M., Pearce, A., Soerjomataram, I., Sharp, L. (2020). Advances in the methodological approach to friction period estimation: A European perspective. Social Science and Medicine, 264, 113289. [More Information]
  • Smith, B., Bamgboje-Ayodele, A., Butow, P., Klein, B., Turner, J., Sharpe, L., Fardell, J., Beatty, L., Pearce, A., Thewes, B., et al (2020). Development and usability evaluation of an online self- management intervention for fear of cancer recurrence (iConquerFear). Psycho-Oncology, 29(1), 98-106. [More Information]
  • Mols, F., Tomalin, B., Pearce, A., Kaambwa, B., Koczwara, B. (2020). Financial toxicity and employment status in cancer survivors. A systematic literature review. Supportive Care in Cancer, 28(12), 5693-5708. [More Information]

2019

  • Pearce, A., Tomalin, B., Kaambwa, B., Horevoorts, N., Duijts, S., Mols, F., van de Poll-Franse, L., Koczwara, B. (2019). Financial toxicity is more than costs of care: the relationship between employment and financial toxicity in long-term cancer survivors. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 13(1), 10-20. [More Information]
  • Barchuk, A., Bespalov, A., Huhtala, H., Chimed, T., Belyaev, A., Moore, M., Anttila, A., Auvinen, A., Pearce, A., Soerjomataram, I. (2019). Productivity losses associated with premature mortality due to cancer in Russia: A population-wide study covering 2001-2030. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 47(5), 482-491. [More Information]

2018

  • Shaw, J., Pearce, A., Lopez, A., Price, M. (2018). Clinical anxiety disorders in the context of cancer: A scoping review of impact on resource use and healthcare costs. European Journal of Cancer Care, 27(5), 1-9. [More Information]
  • Pearce, A., Sharp, L., Hanly, P., Barchuk, A., Bray, F., de Camargo Cancela, M., Gupta, P., Meheus, F., Qiao, Y., Sitas, F., et al (2018). Productivity losses due to premature mortality from cancer in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS): A population-based comparison. Cancer Epidemiology, 53, 27-34. [More Information]

2017

  • Hanly, P., Pearce, A., Sharp, L. (2017). Cancer and productivity loss in the Irish economy: an employer's perspective. Irish Journal of Medical Science, 36(1), 5-20. [More Information]
  • Pearce, A., Haas, M., Viney, R., Pearson, S., Haywood, P., Brown, C., Ward, R. (2017). Incidence and severity of self-reported chemotherapy side effects in routine care: A prospective cohort study. PloS One, 12(10), 1-12. [More Information]
  • Alforque Thomas, A., Pearce, A., Sharp, L., Gardiner, R., Chambers, S., Aitken, J., Molcho, M., Baade, P. (2017). Socioeconomic disadvantage but not remoteness affects short-term survival in prostate cancer: A population-based study using competing risks. Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology, 13(2), e31-e40. [More Information]

2016

  • Pearce, A., Ryan, F., Drummond, F., Alforque Thomas, A., Timmons, A., Sharp, L. (2016). Comparing the costs of three prostate cancer follow-up strategies: a cost minimisation analysis. Supportive Care in Cancer, 24(2), 879-886. [More Information]
  • Pearce, A., Bradley, C., Hanly, P., O'Neill, C., Alforque Thomas, A., Molcho, M., Sharp, L. (2016). Projecting productivity losses for cancer-related mortality 2011 - 2030. BMC Cancer, 16(1), 804. [More Information]
  • Alforque Thomas, A., Pearce, A., O'Neill, C., Molcho, M., Sharp, L. (2016). Urban-rural differences in cancer-directed surgery and survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 71(5), 468-474. [More Information]

2015

  • Pearce, A., Haas, M., Viney, R., Haywood, P., Pearson, S., Van Gool, K., Srasuebkul, P., Ward, R. (2015). Can administrative data be used to measure chemotherapy side effects? Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, 15(2), 215-222. [More Information]
  • Alforque Thomas, A., Gallagher, P., O'Ceilleachair, A., Pearce, A., Sharp, L., Molcho, M. (2015). Distance from treating hospital and colorectal cancer survivors' quality of life: a gendered analysis. Supportive Care in Cancer, 23, 741-751. [More Information]
  • Pearce, A., Timmons, A., O'Sullivan, E., Gallagher, P., Gooberman-Hill, R., Alforque Thomas, A., Molcho, M., Butow, P., Sharp, L. (2015). Long-term workforce participation patterns following head and neck cancer. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 9, 30-39. [More Information]

2014

  • Pearce, A., Van Gool, K., Haywood, P., Haas, M. (2014). Delays in access to affordable medicines: Putting policy into perspective - Authors' response. Australian Health Review, 38(1), 16-17. [More Information]
  • Alforque Thomas, A., Timmons, A., Molcho, M., Pearce, A., Gallagher, P., Butow, P., O'Sullivan, E., Gooberman-Hill, R., O’Neill, C., Sharp, L. (2014). Quality of life in urban and rural settings: A study of head and neck cancer survivors. Oral Oncology, 50(7), 676-682. [More Information]
  • Hanly, P., Pearce, A., Sharp, L. (2014). The cost of premature cancer-related mortality: a review and assessment of the evidence. Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, 14(3), 355-377. [More Information]

2013

  • Pearce, A., Haas, M., Viney, R. (2013). Are the true impacts of adverse events considered in economic models of antineoplastic drugs? A systematic review. Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 11, 619-637. [More Information]
  • Noushi, F., Spillane, A., Uren, R., Cooper, R., Allwright, S., Snook, K., Gillett, D., Pearce, A., Gebski, V. (2013). High discordance rates between sub-areolar and peri-tumoural breast lymphoscintigraphy. European Journal of Surgical Oncology, 39(10), 1053-1060. [More Information]

2012

  • Pearce, A., van Gool, K., Haywood, P., Haas, M. (2012). Delays in access to affordable medicines: putting policy into perspective. Australian Health Review, 34, 412-418. [More Information]
  • Pearce, A., Smead, J., Cameron, I. (2012). Retrospective cohort study of accident outcomes for individuals who have successfully undergone driver assessment following stroke. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 59(1), 56-62. [More Information]

Selected Grants

2023

  • Stroke survivor preferences for upper limb therapy following stroke, Pearce A, DVC Research/External Research Collaboration Seed Funding

2022

  • Artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance breast cancer screening: Womens preferences and uptake, Pearce A, Sydney Cancer Institute/Sydney Cancer Institute Seed Grant